christmas move countdown #6

Patrick Stewart is the best Ebenezer Scrooge ever. this is the version that is the most based off of the book that i have ever seen.

Christmas Move Countdown #7

a Charley Brown Christmas!

Does anyone know what Christmas is all about?????

Christmas Move Countdown #8

who doesn't love the Muppets when they are portraying classical literature? this is just a good fun time to sit and watch miss piggy, Kermit, Fozzie bear, Gonzo and the rest walking around London as if they were there and always have been a part of the world. I tip my at to the wonderful imagination of Jim Henson.

christmas move countdown #9

Straight from the imagination of Chris Van Allsburg comes the wonder-us story of a magical train to the north pole. it is a story about belief and considering I still believe in Santa Claus i find this a wonderful Christmas treat. granted the graphics, wail a great example of motion capture technology, are not the greatest (and at times a little freaky) but i think they captured the imagination of Allsburg well.

christmas move countdown #10

it is a musical, about snow with Bing Crosby, is there any more to say? ho and yes because I am now living in the "south" I do dream for a white Christmas. Can't wait to get back to Wyoming!

christmas move countdown #11

Did you know this movie was actually basted off of the Bible? Yeah the part where after the passover Mary and Joesph head home and Jesus isn't with him but they figure he is with the rest of the family so it is all okay. then when they realize that he isn't with them they go running back to Jerusalem.

christmas move countdown #12

This year for Christmas on my blog i have decided to do something completely different. a Christmas move count down to count down my favorite 12 Christmas movies. and so here at number tweleve is....

The stingiest man in Town

I love musicals and i love this musical rendition of the Christmas carol by Charles Dickens. the animation i know is hooky but it was created by the same animator team as the animated hobbit and return of the king...

any way the reason i love it is mostly because of two songs (though i enjoy most of the songs in this one what can i say i like musicals). the first song is sung by Tiny Tim's oldest sister and is called "Yes There is a Santa Clause." which i love because yes i may be almost 26 but i still believe in Santa Clause!

the second song is sung by the narrator and is call the "Birthday Party of the King." in this song the creative team bring in to their movie the real reason for the season. yes we can debate all day about the fact that most of the symbols that have become iconic with Christmas are pagan but is it really worth it to not be celebration of the birth of Christ even if Christ wasn't born on the 25th of December? the point is that the reason I celebrate Christmas is because of the mystery of the God of the universe who created all things becoming man. that is a mystery beyond my comprehension.

on a whole this musical is a very artful way of telling retelling the story of Ebeneser Scrooge and his coming to understand that his business is not to make the most money but that Man kind should be his business. and that he learn to hear and help his fellow man.

and the day after.....

well it is December first...
and all threw the house everything was quiet.
there are dirty plates in the sink
and empty sprite cans on the coffee table
a few empty bags of popcorn.... Okay I know non of that really rhythms so I will just stop now. (this is of course why I don't write poetry)

after some well erned rest i have to say even though i do not have the honor of reaching the goal of 50,000 words I consider myself to have gain my own goal of sorts. the story i wrote has a beginning, an end, and a completed plot movement. (though i am not so confident in my skills to not take into account that there are probably several plot wholes and at least two characters who changed names half way threw the story.) however it cam to a nice neat end with a wonderous loose end that will work wonderfully for a sequel next year.

and now my I offer my great congratulations to those noble souls who were able to beat thier keyboards, pens, and or notebooks into submission and made it to 50,000 words. to you I raise my glass and salute you.

10 days left.

well finely it has come i have waited for this for so long and finely it is reading week!!!!! no more classes not dead lines just a break, and finely time to find some quiet to sit down and write my novel. I may still be only just over 10,000 words, but with a little bit of gumption and a whole lot of luck it will happen and what a happy day that will be. I have to write at least 4,000 words a day to meet my goal. it is a little scary but i know i can do it. (and even work on getting caught up in my classes) today and tomorrow are going to be intense days. i figure with all the school work i have had to do recently i am going to step very cautiously away from the school books. (at any minuet i fully expect Martin's book and Plantinga's book to turning into those one books from harry potter and go at each other. ) and delve deeply into the world of my novel. I have resently added an new charactor, his name is Gil and he is a brownie who is some much fun to write dioluge for because he says things like "Me don attack anyhim.." and uses words like Poof'i'da, and de'oly'un" he willd efinetlly add some fund times and color to the mix.

Bloody Mary, Athieism, Alchemy, nano...

Bloody Mary the arch Villon of the English Reformation.

Atheism the belief that there is no God

Alchemy the supposed ability to change one thing into another by the use of transmutation circles

Nano the abbreviation of NaNoWriMo which is translated as National Novel Writing Month in which hundreds of people submit themselves to the crazy notion that they can indeed write a 50,000 word novel in only thirty days.

what do all these things have in common? I am so glad you asked. this is a good discription of what the next 13 days hold for me. first i must finiish my paper on Queen Mary Tutor, second I must work out the details and write my Second term paper which is for my systematic Aplogetics course which is focused on the arguments atheists have against Christianity. Third I must write an analysis of the story i wrote for my Morality after modernity class which was about alchemy. fourth there is be my attempt to finish my own 50,000 word novel before November 30th.

not to mention catching up on my reading for the end of term. sleep how i will miss you.

Nano 3

I am still Behind, but 9,000 words is nothing to be ashamed of. I mean I have two term papers due and one due right after thanksgiving break. so hopefully today I will find some time to work again. it would be really nice to actually get 41,000 more words. and I am not sure that it is impossible yet. (we will just have to see what happens on the twenty third since i plan to have my own write-a-thon. just because i am not in California doesn't mean i can't have fun too.)

as for my story, well i suddenly have two more villains. a fallen star, and a red knight. So yeah.

In other news i had a great time at the writer's conference. I talked to several people and got some good ideas of what to do next.

Nano Post two

well so far...I am behind, but hey that is all good because i actually am writing mostly concistently. it is not helpful that i am still in class and have papers to write and research, and oh yeah a mid term next week.

It's all good though. exciting news is that i am going to a writters conference this weekend and hope to have a grand time. I enjoyed my self last year and have been looking forward to this year for some time.

also I actually just finished a short story for one of my classes. now it just needs a little twicking and then i will be turning it in.

so far I have a midevil styl fanticy, a Dragon named El, a girl called Cassandra, and a boy called Jarus (if anyone has any good masqulan names for a human in a fanticy pleas let me know i am not really found of this name)

I also have a quest and a villen, who is called the king of shadows. were this will all end who knows. right now i just got to keep Cassandra from Killing Jarus till they get to the white wizard (not gandolf!!!)
4460 words.

Nano Post 1

(yeah the one is my attempt to think i will be posting more then once this month pretty cool huh?)

Nano is here, and I have no idea what my word count is. it is a fun story really. I had a surplus from my student loans so I decided that i would buy a new computer, not a bad idea right? well when i did that i also bought the student window's 7 (pretty nice by the way...totally better then vista but then any thing was better then vista) sadly i lost Microsoft word which had locked up on me before i made the switch over. so i have written all of my book so far in word pad, which is not bad but there is no word count!!!!!

any way so far everything is okay... i am pretty sure that I have less then 1,000 words to my name but hey, at least i have found time to write this year.

I thought this was an intersting pice of advice from the site:
"and please remember: If you write a paragraph or chapter you don't like, just put it in italics (or change the font color to white). Do not delete! After you write your way across the 50,000-word finish line, you can double back and clip out all the parts of your book that make you cringe (I think you'll surprise yourself with what you decide to keep). For now, just keep moving forward! There's an old folk saying that goes: Whenever you delete a sentence in your NaNoWriMo novel, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings and plummets, screaming, to the ground. "

This Is Halloween!

Halloween in one of my favorite holiday's. I love it! it is come as you are not day, and that allows for all kinds of fun Hi-jinks. last year it was a great time i went as Bonnie Parker and went to a party with Greg (this was apparently an unofficial date). then then night was ended with a viewing of the nightmare before Christmas (one of my favorite movies.) last year it was also my grandmother's 80th birthday. and in honnor of this wonderful lady I must take a moment to say:

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!!!!

I am not sure what this year's Halloween holds. i will be going to a party, dressing up and all that kind of fun. but also at 12:00 am I will be starting Nanowrimo. this is exciting and odd, since i had been planning on doing one thing and last night i decided to go a completely different direction. instead of working on the science fiction that i have been plain for some time i will be working on a fantasy. complete with dragons and knights, and wizards, and all that. it should be fun. and maybe i will acctually complete nano this year. *fingers crossed*

Five days till...

NaNoWriMo!!!!

and then the craziness issues! For 30 days i will once again attempted (and probably fail) to write one 50,000 word Novel!

am I crazy, Yes. but i have a plain, which i don't know if that is a good thing since every month i have had a plain. oh well, it is a fun roller-coaster of craziness which is totally worth the ride!

The hanting of the B. L. Fisher Library

After a series of tests, by the Weekly world News' highly trained Professional Supernatural Investigative Team, it has been confirmed that the B. L. Fisher Library of the Asbury Theological Seminary is indeed a supernatural hot spot.

there is a Poltergeist in the security system who likes to turn the alarm on and off at random, and likes to talk to the bats who get trapped inside the library. He is affectionately called Denise and has been known to pull books off the shelves. especially during collection shifting, one librarian talked about how it seemed sometimes He was just playing childish tricks and other times was trying to help.

there is also Leprechauns living in the many printers. these leprechauns have a tendency to cause the printers to malfunction and sometimes have to be reminded who is in charge. the staff have learned that by simply turning the printers off for about 30 seconds keeps these supernatural Squatters in check.

also found squatting in the library's computer system was a family of Gremlins who find the completed system of the library network a wonderful living arrangement and like to wreak havoc on the IT personal.

next in the electrical system of the library's lights there resides a ghoul who is always messing with the lighting, keeping some lights on, and changing the wiring so that the switches never turn off the same lights.

Lastly there is the mysterious case of the Richard Douglas paintings. it would seem that there are some sort of apparition locked inside each one. the most haunting is the one which is found on the bottom floor near an area called time out. for these mysterious paintings there is no explanation for the EMT that they give off. the Weekly World News Investigators are quite at a lost to explain them away.

when things don't go the way you plan.

I have been trying for several days to put my thoughts of late into words. Nothing seems quite right. A couple of days a go my room mates mother died. it was completely unexpected. The next morning after little sleep I got her onto a plane to be with her family.

I want to some how express the lose felt by all those who knew Tanda. But all I know is how she opened her home up to me this summer, how she shared her heart with me. she was truly a beautiful women, with a gigantic heart. and it may seem like waxing poetics but the world almost seems a little darker with her gone.

Please pray for the family she has left behind.

October

what happened to the time. i can not believe how long it has been since i last posted. probably because life has been so busy. it really bugs me. but any way i hope to get back to blogging regularly soon. but life is good.

Harry Potter and the Half blood Prince

On tuesday I and a quite large group went to see Harry Potter and the half blood prince. we went to the midnight showing. wail there waiting in line we saw ginny and harry, voldemort, and several others dressed as witches. luckily i sat with two girls who don't mind talking threw the movie, and both of them served as a good replacement for the group of movie critics i was once a part of.

*reminising* oh for those days long ago when after watching a movie I and the 5 others would go to windy's for frosties and such and there talk about all the things we liked about the movie and everything we hated.

any way. here are some of my thoughts beware if you haven't yet seen the movie you are in for some spoilers.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!
there youhave been warned

things I liked about the movie:

First: the acting was amazing. For example Rupert Grint stole the show. Ron on the love potion was anexample of what i think is superb acting, what i am thinking of here mostly is the scene when he has taken the love potion. but beyound that he's talent is enjoyable to watch. also Tom Felton, the actor who plays Malfoy, convinced me that Malfoy was pleased to be choosen, and was ready to do what the dark lord asked of him, but there was an inner struggle. I felt that the conflict within Malfoy was beautifuly played and expressed all the reasons why I truly belived Rowlings was going to redeem him in the last book. lastly Jim Braodbent Delivered perfectly Proffessor Slughorn.

Second: Quiddich returns!!!!!!! I have always been sad with how much quiddich was removed from the stories.

third: the efects where wonderful. it really is a beautiful film. and the Dead things in the water totaly Freeked me out even though i knew it was coming. (however witht he popularity of this moive the effects should be superb) there were several shots of the castel which were a delitious treat for the eyes.

Fourth: charactor development. Ginny Weasley's charactor is the one i think is the most fun to watch grow over the years. In this film she had come into her own and though she is a girl and has her moments she is a great example of a strong female suporting charactor. it is clear why Harry falls for her and not Hermionie.

things I did not like:

One: Where did Nevile Go???? Nevile Longbottom, who we all know is the actual one the prophecy was about is almost completely he has a couple of camios and only one line. One line! it is just not right. nevile is one of the several charactors in this film who in my oppinioun get completely jipped including Professor McGunagall, Hagrid, Professor Snape, the Weasley Twins and even Hermionie.

Two: they BURNED the Burrow. I think that is enough about that.

three: Transitions, they were many and long. probably together there was about 5-10 minuets waisted in transitions.

four: they left out alot from the book. some stuff not importaint; i would have liked to have seen more of the memories. the students were only seen in class once. then there was some stuff that i think was very importaint, like there was vertually nothing about the half blood prince. Harry did not disarm malfoy, (very importaint if I remember what happends in the last book). the tonks and Lupin romace is just shown, nothing about how she is actually pinning for him and he wont give in because these are dark times, he is a werewolf, and she is so much younger then he is. there is nothing said about the prophecy, and even less said about the evil werewolf Malfoy has recruted for his evil deed.

So wail i think there was more on my list as I left the theater that night, but these I belive were the most Pressing. all in all I think it was a great movie. though as a book to movie I think it was quite possibly the worst harry potter movie. So I give it 3 and a half out of 5 stars

Library Rave!!!!!!!!

Okay so, i happen to work at the library at Asbury. and as any one can probably guess this is not a time when lots of people come into the library. it is the second summer term and I am stuck at the desk from 6-11. well at about 10:15 PM something very extraordinary happened.

The last two souls when were here slaving at thier home work... well at least one of them was, the other sounded like he was having a wonderful time laughing at the videos he was watching... but i digress...Any way so these poor unfortunet souls left the building. offically the only people ion the library were the two desk workers, someone working on uploading dissertations to a digital formate and two off the clock emploies.

I and my fellow desk worker were very courious why we were even open. it had beena very boring night any way. I said, "well I guess i can get rid of the coffee." no one was here to drink it or anything and suddenly an idea hit me. I looked over at Lisa, my room mate who also works at the library but was not on the clock, and said, "Lisa, there is no one here." lisa looked at me with a look of glee, "siriously?"

"seiriously."

Like a bult she ran for the main light switch, it was time for the long anticipated Library rave! She and Rob, who actually works for IT but that is also part of the info commons, quickly looked up Tecno on home star runner. the lights went on and off to the sound of Strong bad's tecno.

whoever said libraries are boring didn't know what they were talkign about.

Sooo....

I bet some of you out there have wondered where i have gone. well no I did not fall of the face of the earth, nor have i been abductuted by alieans. (thank goodness). after easter was a funn filled with of play (which i will blog about soon). Followed by a crazyness of finels, moving, and more moveing, and Traveling.

here is a bit of an update. the Asbury Theator Company gave their production of the Deviners. I wrote 2 15-20 page papers (one on the imagery of the Grail in the Althorian Ledgons and how that relates back to the Eucharist, the other on how the Problem of Evil is Protrayed in Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) then I found an apartment with my good friend Lisa which meant moving out of the dorm and moving all my 'stuff' into the apartment. ( we are still in process here because we don't really have furniture.) then traveled to AZ to See my sister Megan graduate from massauge theripy school and see the family. then back to Kentucy to get ready to go to TX with my roommate Lisa to help her parents move to Plano. along the way we stoped in Tulsa to see some of Lisa's friends and had a blast.

so that has been my life lately. hopefully very soon i will be putting up somethings i have been wanting to blog about.

Crown Him our KING!

Hark! How the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity.

Crown Him the virgin’s Son, the God incarnate born,
Whose arm those crimson trophies won which now His brow adorn;
Fruit of the mystic rose, as of that rose the stem;
The root whence mercy ever flows, the Babe of Bethlehem.

Crown Him the Son of God, before the worlds began,
And ye who tread where He hath trod, crown Him the Son of Man;
Who every grief hath known that wrings the human breast,
And takes and bears them for His own, that all in Him may rest.

Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed over the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save.
His glories now we sing, who died, and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.

Crown Him the Lord of peace, whose power a scepter sways
From pole to pole, that wars may cease, and all be prayer and praise.
His reign shall know no end, and round His piercèd feet
Fair flowers of paradise extend their fragrance ever sweet.

Crown Him the Lord of love, behold His hands and side,
Those wounds, yet visible above, in beauty glorified.
No angel in the sky can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends his burning eye at mysteries so bright.

Crown Him the Lord of Heaven, enthroned in worlds above,
Crown Him the King to Whom is given the wondrous name of Love.
Crown Him with many crowns, as thrones before Him fall;
Crown Him, ye kings, with many crowns, for He is King of all.

Crown Him the Lord of lords, who over all doth reign,
Who once on earth, the incarnate Word, for ransomed sinners slain,
Now lives in realms of light, where saints with angels sing
Their songs before Him day and night, their God, Redeemer, King.

Crown Him the Lord of years, the Potentate of time,
Creator of the rolling spheres, ineffably sublime.
All hail, Redeemer, hail! For Thou has died for me;
Thy praise and glory shall not fail throughout eternity.

Where you There?

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh!
Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Oh!
Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?

Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Oh!
Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Oh!
Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?

Good Friday

Your only Son
No sin to hide
But You have sent Him,
From Your side
To walk upon this guilty sod
And to become the Lamb of God

Your gift of Love
They crucified
They laughed and scorned him as he died
The humble King
They named a fraud
And sacrificed the Lamb of God

Oh Lamb of God, Sweet lamb of God
I love the Holy Lamb of God
Oh wash me in His precious Blood
My Jesus Christ the Lamb of God

I was so lost I should have died
But You have brought me to Your side
To be led by Your staff and rod
And to be call a lamb of God

Oh wash me in His precious Blood
My Jesus Chris the Lamb of God

His finel Prayer

And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.

I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost

I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

Parable of the star fish.

Taking a small Denture for something God gave me today at church.

Long ago there were many more Twinkling Lights in the starry sky. these Twinkling Lights told the story of the Creator and pointed the Imago Deo to Him. But it was not always to be.

one night on of Star looked down at the world and saw a flickering light in the dark depths of the ocean. the next night from her orbit above the earth she spotted it again and the little star pointed it out to her friends. the story of the Flickering light of the sea spread through out the nights sky and there was much debate about what it was and meant.

Many wanted to go down to find out what the Flickering light was.

But the Greater Lights, the sun and the moon, warned the little Twinkling Lights that this mysterious Flicker of light in the sea was dangerous. they the lights of the sky were to point the Imago Deo to their creator. there was nothing in the sea that would be helpful in this mission.

Sadly many of the Twinkling Lights did not listen to the warning of the greater lights. they agreed instead to go to the sea and find out what it was. So on a dark night when the greater lights were not to be seen this band of stars left the sky and went down to the earth. as they flung themselves after the flickering light they found their own light was extinguished and they fell into the depth of the sea. Here the Flickering Light was nothing, just an empty reflection. try as they may they could not get back to the sky and exhausted they settled on the floor of the sea. they learned to survive, scavenging for food among the rocks.

But their Creator did not forget about them. with every tide he sends a current which would carry them back to the sky where they belong. if they would just let go of the rocks they now cling to.

Alone

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

Mathew 26: 40,41,43,44

Cup of Suffering

"Abba", Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." And After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began."

Overwhelmed with Sorrow

"Sit here while I go over there and pray...My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of Death. Stay here and keep watch with me...My father, if it is possible may this cup be taken from me yet not as I will but as you will...Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?...My father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken unless I drink it may you will be done..."

An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.

Matthew26:36-42 and Luke 22:43

in to the Garden

They came to a place named Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples "Sit here until I have prayed." And He took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. And he said to them, "My soul is deep grieved to the point of death remain here and keep watch."
Mark 14:32-34

Jesus had much on his mind so he went to pray but he did not go by himself. he brought three of his friends with him to pray with him. we are told that when two or more are gathered Christ is with us. when we are distressed and we go to God in prayer over our distressed we are right to bring others with us for straight and comfort. There is straight in numbers.

In the Garden

Most people when they think of the Lenten season they are reminded of the forty days Jesus fasted in the wilderness. how ever this year i would like to focus on Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. there we have a beautiful picture of Jesus in his humanness and his godness knelling before God Praying for what he was about to do. the last couple of months i have realized there is much going on in this passage of the gospels so this passage of scripiture will be the focus of my blogging during the the forty days of lent.

to get things started we have a hymn that puts us inthe setting of the Garden.

'NEATH THE OLD OLIVE TREES



'Neath the stars of the night
Walked the Saviour of light,
In the garden of dew-ladened breeze;
Where no light could be found,
Jesus knelt on the ground,
There He prayed 'neath the old olive trees.


Chorus

'Neath the old olive trees,
'Neath the old olive trees,
Went the Saviour alone on His knees:
"Not My will, Thine be done,"
Cried the Father's own Son,
As He knelt 'neath the old olive trees.


All the sins of the world
On the Saviour was hurled,
As He knelt in the garden alone;
Hear His soul-burdened plea,
Let this cup pass from Me,
"Even so, not My will, Thine be done."


May my song ever be
Of the love proffered me,
By my Lord all alone on His knees:
Praise His wonderful name,
He who bore all my blame,
As He knelt 'neath the old olive trees.


Chorus

'Neath the old olive trees,

'Neath the old olive trees,
Went the Saviour alone on His knees:
"Not My will, Thine be done,"
Cried the Father's own Son,
As He knelt 'neath the old olive trees.

--B. B. McKinney

Lent

Wednesday was Ash Wednesday which signifies the beginning of Lent. the time in which the people of God Corporately fast. Fast from what ever they choose but still fast. It is a tradtion that has only recently become popular for the protestant church to participate in. however it has a long standing history.

this semester I am taking a class called history of the sacriments and for class yesterday the reading was on lent and it's origins.

it has its roots in the Fast day before Pascha, a christian celibration of passover with the crusifiection and the day in which people were baptised. those who would be baptised on Pascha were encouraged to fast for the day, many were encouraged to fast for a week. in the 3rd centrury it was common for people to fast for the three weeks prier to thier baptism was they were going through the Catechumens (teachings about the christian faith). in the fourth century from the influence of the monastic-asetic movement it became custemary for the faithful to goin in the pre-baptism fast as a way of taking a kind of refresser course on what they belived. this was when it extended to begin on the 6th or 8th sunday before easter depending on where one lived.

It is called a 40 day fast because at the time (and continuing today) people did not fast on sunday, and in some places they did not fast on saturday either. the Forty days became offical in the 7th century. This is also when ashes were added, which originated in Gaul (modern France). and that was conected to penince for someone who had commited a grevus sin. this however was not the prominent reason for the fast.

it was orignially a way to get people to fast, fasting is an importaint disopline of the church and through scripture we see that God works through fasts. it also became a method of teaching. during this fast people would learn and be remeinded about what they belive as christians.

most importaintly though, i belive, is that it was a way to promote unity in the Church Universal. after the church became the religon of the empire there became many slack christians, Lent was to be a corporate even of the church in which everone fromthe bishop down to the humblist catechumen lived at least for as season as a member of the ody of christ.

during this time of nominal christians the purpose of lent was to also remind the careless and the sinful christians of the claims of the christian standard:

"Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind"
Romans 12:2

So as you enter this lental season may God bless you and may you always be a member of the body of Christ.

Evil, what is that

Okay bare with me a little here because i did something very fun the other day after my philosophy class. I proved that evil does not exist. that there is no such thing as evil, that evil is actually good.
(disclaimer this is more a fun thing to play with the philosophies of others not what i would actually hold to, and yes there are probably holes in my logic)

we start with David Hume. Now David Hume is not a christian. he looks at the world and says this about God:

• If God is willing to prevent evil but Not able to prevent it then he is Impotent (and there fore not really God)
• If God is able to prevent evil but not willing to prevent it then he is Malevolent
  
• If God is neither willing or able then He is both Impotent and malevolent
• because if God is both willing and able then why do we have so much evil in the world

so that is where we find Hume, Not claiming that there is no god, but rather that he has the power to stop evil but does not desire to do so. god is not the all powerful, Good, and righteous designer.

Hume Proves his idea that God is not good by using the following scenario:

• lets say there is a person who has no part of this univers. they are in a completely different universe then this one. (a parralle universe if you will)
• lets say that he is assured that this universe does in fact exist.
• next he is assured that this universe was Designed
  
• and that not only was it designed but the designer was an All powerful, wise, and good being
• this would give the person an idea of what our universe should look like
  
• however that notion would be different then what the universe really is (because Hume figures that if the person is convinced that the designer of this Universe was all powerful, wise, and good then the universe must be a paradise were no evil is. after all a good, wise, all powerful designer would not allow evil into his world.)
• so now the person is able to come to our universe.
  
• this person (becasue of what his preconcived notion of what the univers should be like) would be surprised by the vice, misery and disorder in this world.

My question for Hume is this, if this theoretical person is from an other dimetion or parrallel universe why would he have the same idea of what Good is? for the sake of clarification were are Going to name this person in the other universe steve.

• let us say that steve is from a world that is an evolutionary world. all things in it have evolved to the state were they now curently are. his world came about by chance rather then beign desined as our universe was.
  
• Steve's understanding of the world then is that all systems work toward the evolving of a species.
• So for Steve the way the universe works is like a watch. all the moving parts work together to achieve that goal.
• Steve comes to our universe knowing that it was designed, and that the designer is good. why should he expect our universe to not have death destruction and despair?
• afterall when animals mall something or some one is it not simply the cycle of life?
  
• are not natural desastors the natural world coming back into alinment?
• when a whole population is wiped out by famion, or plague is it not the land contolling the population?
• now if we add in Neichie's idea that the most importaint thing for ever person to pursue is dominonce and or power to this mix suddenly Murder, War, rape, and so on are just a person expressing his dominance as the stronger of others.
• therefore should Steve be surprised that our world is the way it is when he would have a much different idea of what good and evil are? it is not more likely that steve would agree with J. L Mackie who said there is not objective good or evil.
  

V-Day

most people know how much i love Valentines day. and I still did celebrated in my own way. Lets Face it i love going a little Gothic and i look good doing it.

My Birthday!

Yeah I love birthdays. but really who doesn't? well my birthday was on Wednesday andbecasue i live in a dorm and the RA desided that Wednesday was a good day for the all dorm meeting i did not get to actually celibrate with my friends. we are doing that tonight. (yeah for bowling) any way i did comemerate the day by doing something that most people would concider... rebelious, or maybe Subversive. take a look:



Yep I peiced my Eyebrow. and I love it!

Superbowl

sadly the end of the holiday season. but was in not a good game? a spectacular game. considering that the cardinals are considered one of the worst teams in the NFL. the last time they were at the super bowl was 1944, back when they were the Chicago cardinals.

as usual this year i rooted for the underdog. for some reason it is just more fun to root the underdog on. i watched the super bowl and the huge TV in one of the boys dorms. there was pizza and pop, chips and dip and of course wings. (even if they weren't from dash inn, which made me slightly home sick.)

my good friend Lisa decided that foot ball is not nearly as exciting as hockey and would randomly start yelling fight during a tackle. (do not that one of the Steelers did through a punch at a cardinal and when one of the steals went out of bounds on the red side he almost got clobbered.)

there was only two people in this party who were rooting for the Stealers, and only one of them was incredibly vocal about it. he mocked the rest of us at the end of the game when we were all hoping for a miracle. even though it is the super bowl and miracles are known to happen.

all and all it was a great party. we laughed, we joked, we jumped, and screamed. and really what else can you ask for from a super bowl party?

*happy dance*

Guess what guess what guess what!

I finished my class today!

that was it you can go back to what you were doing now.

walking in a winter wonderland

aparently kentucky has been on the news today because of ice storms. yes there are power outages, but not in on campus. Yes we had an ice storm followed by snow and campus did close yesterday.

But really it is just beautiful. the sun was shining yesterday, and the way that everything looks, well several people said they thought they had woke up in Narnia. see for your self:
Look for more pictures on my picture blog

Finally

today I celebrate that I am now finally in the degree program I had wanted to be in all along! no longer am i sitting in a degree waiting for my GPA to get to the level it needs to be at to study what I really want to study. I am now getting a masters of arts in theological Studies!!!!

all that hard work last semester finely paid off!

Do you Hear the people Sing?

I have been on a kick to listen to Les Miserables lately. last night when i was listening to the song Do You hear the People Sing I started to think of all that the song means. with some of the thinking i have beed doing on the idea of the kingdom of God this song seemed sudenly more relivent to me then it ever had been. and i reolized that this song could be seen as a rallying cry to waken Christians to see the world around them and remeber that they are not part of this world.

Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!

the people who are singing are like those who are longing for God's freedom. Those whom Jesus was talking about when he said the Fields are white for Harvest. when your heart beats after God and what God is doing in our world your heart becomes one of the drums in the war between the kingdom of Darkness and the Kingdom of God.

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?
Then join in the fight
That will give you the right to be free!

this verse is like one christian who is living in the battle asking his brothers and sisters if they will join him. Lets face it there is a war going on around us a war between angles and Deamons over the souls of men. and because we are the children of God we are part of this Crusade. the question is will we be stronge to stand in the battle (at the barricade) to fight to see the kingdom come.

Will you give all you can give
So that our banner may advance
Some will fall and some will live
Will you stand up and take your chance?
The blood of the martyrs
Will water the meadows of France!

To join the battle front of this war is coastly. there have always been martyrs, there will always be martyrs. thier blood is the water of the church. so the question is are you willing to give all so that the banner of God may cover those who are not yet found in his fold?

Do you hear the people sing? Singing a song of angry men? It is the music of a people Who will not be slaves again! When the beating of your heart Echoes the beating of the drums There is a life about to start When tomorrow comes!

Vampires and Zombies.

So most people who talk to me learn fairly quickly that i have a small obsetion with vampires. I also am pretty spacific in the vampire mithos that i perfer. most people who have talked to me a twilight have heard it and that is not the point of this post so enough introduction and on to the real point.

I was winding down yesterday by checking to see if any of the comics i read had updated and low and behold my favorite artist and writer on the net, Sarah Ellerton was going to be illistrating a new graphic novel. I found Sarah Ellerton from the link page on the Earthsong site back when she was working on Interlock, now she is working through her project Pheonix Requiem (both of which you can find by following the seraph's inn link under comics i read). So I went to check out the new project and the art as to be expected is phinominal, (I mean seariously it's Sarah Ellerton.) But i had never heard of Bobby Crosby so I followed some of the links to his other stuff and found this:



now usally i am not a big Zomby person. but the small discription i found about this comic said the following:

"After Zombies take over the Earth, Vampires must protect the last surving humans so they can live off thier blood."

and I though to myself hum... well i just want to know if this guy is any good at his writing. and you know what i spent the rest of the night reading his comic. the whole idea is one that i must say someone should have thought of before. it makes sence if a world can have a Zombie apocolips why couldn't there be vampires? the FBIVZ does put the two mosters together.

Serously if you like vampires yous should check it out, and if you like zombies i bet you will like this. and if you are fed up with Zombie movies and stories with no new twists or even interesting story lines give it a chance. Bobby and the aritist Owen Gieni will not disapoint. after reading all of the story that has been posted online so far i must say they have given some interesting twists that i was suprised and caught off guard by. I am dieing to put some spoilers in at this point but bobby does that enough on his own. i will just say this, there is a really cool link that bobby puts in the story between Zombies and Vampires, way more then they just both happen to share the same food suply.